43
Steel snaps Phantoms’ streak
By Tom Williams
YOUNGSTOWN
When the Youngstown Phantoms and Chicago Steel meet, streaks are in jeopardy.
Five weeks ago, the Steel brought a 10-game winning streak to the Covelli Centre and lost 3-2 to the Phantoms.
Friday, the skate was on the other foot as Chicago snapped the Phantoms’ four-game winning streak with a 2-1 victory.
Goaltender Ales Stezka stopped 25 shots to earn the victory.
“He played pretty well tonight,” Phantoms defenseman Alex Mahalak said. “We had chances to score, but they didn’t go in.
“But we can takes some positives from this and move forward.”
The Phantoms were playing their first home game after a five-game, 12-day swing through the Midwest around Thanksgiving.
“I liked our effort,” Phantoms head coach Brad Patterson said. “We had plenty of Grade-A chances.
“There are a few guys squeezing their sticks a little bit [too hard] right now, they’re not going in for them,” Patterson said. “Sure enough, those are going to start going in.”
For the fifth-place Phantoms (11-9-1-1, 24 points), Ivan Kulbakov, the USHL’s Goaltender of the Week, stopped 16 shots.
A little more than two minutes into the second period, the Steel’s Tyler Gratton scored on a backhand shot to give first-place Chicago (15-4-1-1, 32 points) a 2-1 lead.
The Phantoms spent the rest of the game playing catch-up, but were unable to solve Stezka.
“Our effort was there, for sure,” forward Alex Esposito said. “The first 10 minutes, we dominated the game.”
The Phantoms had a 5-0 advantage in shots when Nicolas Werbik beat Stezka with a shot from the faceoff circle. Esposito and Coale Norris earned assists.
“Breaking out, we were on the far side of the ice and Norris gave me a great pass,” Esposito said. “Werbik was driving toward the net and as soon as I stepped over the blue line, the [defensemen] came at me, so I slid [the puck] to him.”
Werbik’s 10th goal gave the Phantoms their only lead. Late in the period, the Steel tied the game when Jake Jaremko went top shelf to beat Kulbakov.
Today, the Phantoms are enjoying a rarity for hockey players — a Saturday off.
Patterson’s parents are in town from British Columbia.
“My Dad has a great hockey mind,” Patterson said. “He was at the game so I’m going to pick his brain a little bit.
“There’s never an off day for coaches.”
Esposito plans to relax, but might make the effort to start his Christmas shopping at the mall.
Mahalak is taking advantage of the two-day break to go home to Detroit.
Werbik, the team’s leading scorer, could miss the next five games as he’s been invited to the Czech team’s tryout for the World Juniors tournament.
“World Junior is one of the greatest tournaments, everyone watches it while being home on Christmas break,” Esposito said. “We’re happy for him.”
Next up, the Phantoms will play three straight days at the Covelli, beginning Thursday with a late-morning game against Muskegon.